Swerving and overcorrecting are good-intentions gone wrong. Everyone learns that it’s best to avoid a crash if at all possible. But what does that mean for your day to day activities? Is changing lanes enough? How much force is necessary to change a lane during normal traffic, and why don’t our bodies use that same force when avoiding an accident?
Part of the overreaction and overcorrection is stress and fear. Our bodies think that the harder we jerk the steering wheel or hit the brakes, the better the outcome. That couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, it’s quite common for overcorrecting to avoid an accident to lead to more serious injuries.
What Happens Because of Swerving and Overcorrecting?
Overcorrecting is present in about 3.5% of crashes. That means that there was a negative impact of attempted correction. These accidents often happen because the person hits another vehicle while trying to avoid a crash. Or they swerve to avoid an animal in the road. In some cases, the overcorrection comes from hitting a patch of ice or pile of dirt on the roadway, which led to the tires losing traction.
Can Overcorrecting Put You At Fault?
Yes, if you overcorrect and make the crash or injuries worse than what they could have been, you could be at fault. Comparative fault is the system that Georgia uses, and that applies to all Atlanta accidents no matter the situation. If you’re working with a partial fault case, you may feel that the system is wrong.
The subject of fault is touchy because you may have been trying to avoid the accident. Many people in this circumstance feel that the other driver is far more at fault, making them feel compelled to take evasive action. However, if you avoided one accident only to cause another, you could be the only at-fault party in that second crash.
Never put yourself or passengers in danger of another, more serious, wreck to avoid a small fender bender. You can work with an Atlanta, GA auto accident attorney and specific crash recreation experts to identify the possibilities. You may have avoided a more serious accident and caused a less crash.
For example, if there is a big rig parked on the side of the freeway near an exit, you needed to use. When you attempted to use the exit, you realized that a crash was imminent, so you dove back into traffic, causing an accident. With a car accident attorney, you can argue that the truck driver who parked illegally is still responsible. It’s possible that your car hitting the big rig could have resulted in din multiplied deaths, being the more serious accident possibility of the two.
How to Properly Handle Evasive Maneuvers
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration offers a few tips for evasive maneuvering. First, they encourage drivers to always be on the lookout for possible accidents but also escape routes. It’s best to do this all the time with well-developed scanning habits. Remember that athletes spend weeks or months practicing before they jump into a professional game. Do the same with your driving.
When looking for escape routes to evade a traffic collision, you should carefully consider the possibilities of other accidents. Swerving and overcorrecting to avoid one collision will frequently lead to you hitting another car. Just as speeding up to avoid being rear-ended can cause you to rear end someone else.
Taking an Impact
Sometimes, the absolute best thing that you can do is to take the impact. A particular note that confuses many but has some science to back it up is that drunk drivers often sustain fewer injuries. Or, they take on less serious injuries. This happens because their bodies don’t brace or tense up for the crash.
Instead, the force of the impact can naturally ride its way through, and the person who didn’t brace doesn’t experience some common injuries. Going limp is not a natural reaction. Our natural reaction is to grab hold, tighten up, and try to avoid something that will inevitably lead to pain or injury.
Find Out if You’re At-Fault
At The Weinstein Firm, you can schedule a consultation and learn more about fault and if you are at fault. While the insurance companies will conduct their own investigation, a car accident attorney will initiate a private investigation. Going through evidence, and sorting through the police report will help an attorney fight for a reduced fault or argue that you were rightfully not at fault at all.
Call our personal injury law firm in Georgia now and schedule a consultation to discuss your compensation and resolution options.
